The market capitalization of apartment sales in Seoul topped 1,800 trillion won for the first time ever. Apartment prices rose mainly in the so-called Han River belt areas, including the three Gangnam districts (Gangnam, Songpa, Seocho) and Mapo and Seongdong districts, pushing the market capitalization of apartment sales up by about 179 trillion won from the end of last year. In particular, prices of redevelopment apartments saw a large increase.
According to Real Estate R114 on the 9th, as of Oct. 25 the market capitalization of Seoul apartments was 1,803.3574 trillion won. That is an 11% increase (178.9558 trillion won) from the end of last year (1,624.4016 trillion won).
This is the first time the market capitalization of Seoul apartments has exceeded 1,800 trillion won. The market capitalization, which was around 1,633 trillion won in January this year, surpassed 1,700 trillion won in May and has been rising quickly.
Among Seoul apartments, redevelopment complexes showed a larger increase in prices. While the market capitalization of general apartments rose 10.2% year over year to 1,452.3767 trillion won, the market capitalization of redevelopment apartments increased 14.7% to 350.9807 trillion won.
The uptrend in the Han River belt areas, including the three Gangnam districts, appears to have driven the latest rise in the market capitalization of apartment sales in Seoul. Gangnam District's market capitalization was 326.2862 trillion won, up 15.9% from the end of last year (281.5587 trillion won), and Seocho District likewise increased 13.8% over the same period to 218.9424 trillion won. Songpa District also recorded a market capitalization of 232.3509 trillion won. Seongdong District (81.1909 trillion won), Mapo District (76.5400 trillion won), and Yangcheon District (95.8278 trillion won) also saw strong growth in market capitalization.
The increase in the market capitalization of Seoul apartment sales is attributable to a rise in apartment prices in Seoul this year, led by redevelopment apartments. After the Sept. 6 dwellings supply plan was announced, Seoul apartment prices turned upward, with the third week of October posting a 0.50% weekly gain. On a weekly basis, that is the highest reading since the Korea Real Estate Board (KREB) began publishing weekly statistics in Jan. 2013. In addition, higher pre-sale prices for new apartments due to a surge in construction costs also appear to have contributed to the increase in the market capitalization of Seoul apartment sales.